Posts by Lucinda Secrest McDowell

Dear YOU, Sometime today, you might find yourself hearing these words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3.19) as an officiant traces ashes on your brow, made from burning last year’s palm branches. On Ash Wednesday, the church begins the 40-day season of Lent by reminding us of our…

Dear YOU, Is it just me, or are there way too many friends and loved ones currently struggling with medical challenges? I so often feel helpless to make their situation better, to offer hope, to find provision for their needs, even though I would do anything to heal them if I could. One day some…

Dear YOU, Hope you have unthawed after the low temperatures and are now warm and cozy reading this letter by the fireplace with a mug of hot tea or strong coffee. Yes, I know I’m late to the party… It’s already mid-February and I’ve only just now chosen my “word for the year.” This year…

Dear YOU, Hello. My name is Lucinda and I am a Letter and Card Writer. In the midst of these musings I was studying Paul’s many letters in the Bible! Here is what he wrote to the people of Corinth: “Your very lives are a LETTER that anyone can read by just looking at you.…

With Christmas only a few days away, the emotions are building, the memories invading, and the anticipation fluctuating somewhere between tentative dread and utter delight. What will Christmas be like this year? Will extended family all be standing on the porch for the Christmas dinner gathering when a positive C-test sends everyone home (this happened…

There will be Christmas this year. Can’t you sense it? Despite outward circumstances, (and having to learn a new word – tripledemic) there is also something in the air, the music, the stars in the dark sky, the delicious smells, the flickering firelight, the silence even. Friend, Christmas will come alright. Because Christ came in…

Christmas is coming and your house is a mess. Maybe even your whole life feels like a mess right about now. Honey, you are so not alone! George was a mess. One night in 1741, as this bent old man shuffled listlessly down a dark London street. he was starting out on one of the…

I read 100+ books a year, both fiction and non-fiction, and I love to feature some of them on my #BooksOnTuesday socials. There are so many wonderful books out there! This year I was juggling a myriad of situations, and these are a dozen of the books that spoke deep to my soul and kept…

In the season of Thanksgiving (which, in my humble opinion, should be every day), let’s be honest – sometimes it’s hard to muster up gratitude. But, friend, our choices make our lives. It actually can be as simple as looking at your situation, naming your feelings, and then remembering the reality of God in the…

A few years ago, a nationwide poll asked, “What word or phrase would you most like to hear uttered to you, sincerely?” The third answer might surprise you: 1. “I love you.” 2. “You are forgiven.” 3. “Supper is ready. Sometimes grace looks a whole lot like supper. At someone else’s table. But before we…